Sunday Shenanigans is a great opportunity for rules that we know exist but never show up to shine. This week, one of them did. If you hit a home run but miss a base on the way back to the dugout, you can be called out if the opponent challenges it.
For Pirates rookie Ke’Bryan Hayes, if he didn’t know it before, he definitely knows it now. While hitting a home run to right field off of Los Angeles right-hander Walker Buehler, Hayes ran past first base, watching the ball. Little did he know, he missed first base. The Dodgers challenged the play, and after review, Hayes clearly did not step on the base and was ruled out.
Hayes is a very good hitter. He has a 1.098 OPS, eight home runs, and a .358 average in 34 career games. However, baserunning was not as easy for him in this game. Next time up, Hayes got on base. When Bryan Reynolds flew out to left field, well In front of the warning track, Hayes tried to tag up from first base, something that rarely is a good idea. After a good throw from AJ Pollock, Hayes was out on the basepaths once again. That’s not one, but two inexcusable baserunning gaffes from the 24-year-old third baseman. And it was only the third inning? Hayes did not do anything reckless again, but he did have the pace for an all-time bad baserunning performance.
This Happened Again?
Usually, minor league baseball does not qualify for Sunday Shenanigans, but we had to make an exception. Because on the very same day as the Hayes mistake, the rule came into effect again. This time it was in Double-A, where top Royals prospect Bobby Witt Jr. resides. Playing for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, Witt hit a bomb to left-center field, a “home run” recorded to be 430 feet away from home plate. It was also Witt’s second of the game, and eleventh of the season already. As he touched approached home plate, it appears that Witt did touch the bag. But, the home plate umpire ruled otherwise, making it a 430-foot triple.
Well…
Bobby Witt Jr. mashes one 430 feet to left field but the home plate umpire says he didn’t touch home plate after circling the bases…
🤔🤔🤔
So this goes down as a really, really long triple. pic.twitter.com/mrYKnRSnGh
— Northwest Arkansas Naturals (@nwanaturals) June 9, 2021
The video makes it seem that Witt was safe. In fact, one of the minority owners of his franchise (and nothing more) took to Twitter to disagree with the call.
Am i missing something? https://t.co/gsK2Y2YhvY
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) June 9, 2021
Witt himself responded to Mahomes, saying that he “Can confirm” that he touched home. However, the most interesting response to the Kansas City quarterback was not from a baseball player, but from a baseball team. The Frisco Roughriders, the opponent to the Naturals in this game, replied with a clip of Witt’s encounter with the plate from the center field view.
🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/VzkT8XBx9L
— Frisco RoughRiders (@RidersBaseball) June 9, 2021
This makes things much harder on us. Did Witt touch the plate, or not? It’s just a minor league game, and baseball’s number seven prospect according to MLB Pipeline does not need that extra base for future success. But, it will leave fans of Double-A baseball arguing, and that keeps up the Shenanigans.
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Main Image Credit: Embed from Getty Images
